Automatic Quantification of Atherosclerosis in Contrast-Enhanced MicroCT Scans of Mouse Aortas Ex Vivo

Objective. While microCT evaluation of atherosclerotic lesions in mice has been formally validated, existing image processing methods remain undisclosed. We aimed to develop and validate a reproducible image processing workflow based on phosphotungstic acid-enhanced microCT scans for the volumetric...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of biomedical imaging 2021, Vol.2021, p.4998786-9
Main Authors: Stadelmann, Vincent A., Boyd, Gabrielle, Guillot, Martin, Bienvenu, Jean-Guy, Glaus, Charles, Varela, Aurore
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Aorta
Apolipoprotein E
Apolipoproteins
Arteriosclerosis
Atherosclerosis
Computed tomography
Coronary vessels
Exports
Histology
Image enhancement
Image processing
Image segmentation
Lesions
Plaques
Reproducibility
Scanners
Triangulation
Tungsten compounds
Workflow
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Summary:Objective. While microCT evaluation of atherosclerotic lesions in mice has been formally validated, existing image processing methods remain undisclosed. We aimed to develop and validate a reproducible image processing workflow based on phosphotungstic acid-enhanced microCT scans for the volumetric quantification of atherosclerotic lesions in entire mouse aortas. Approach and Results. 42 WT and 42 apolipoprotein E knockout mouse aortas were scanned. The walls, lumen, and plaque objects were segmented using dual-threshold algorithms. Aortic and plaque volumes were computed by voxel counting and lesion surface by triangulation. The results were validated against manual and histological evaluations. Knockout mice had a significant increase in plaque volume compared to wild types with a plaque to aorta volume ratio of 0.3%, 2.8%, and 9.8% at weeks 13, 18, and 26, respectively. Automatic segmentation correlated with manual (r2≥0.89; p0.96; p
ISSN:1687-4188
1687-4196
DOI:10.1155/2021/4998786